


Retirement

by AgenderMaine (AngelusErrare)



Series: Falling Towards The Feels [4]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Minor Character, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 21:46:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7285897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelusErrare/pseuds/AgenderMaine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/><i>"Bleeding time for old Kentucky."</i><br/>Jeff Williams, "On Your Knees" (Season 9 soundtrack)</p>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	Retirement

**Author's Note:**

> I like poking around with the Freelancers we don't know much of anything about in the series. Took Delaware's pronouns from the song; Kentucky being male was my idea.
> 
> (I didn't want to write another death fic today, so I decided this "bleeding time" wouldn't be fatal.)

"I am too old for this shit!"

"Hah, you an' me both, buddy," Delaware laughed, supporting Kentucky's weight as they walked away from the carnage behind them. "I'm thinking of retiring!"

"You're like half my age!" Kentucky muttered, his smile hidden behind his helmet. He would have given her a playful shove if she wasn't the only thing keeping him on his feet. "You don't get to say you're old for at least another twenty years."

Delaware shook her head, letting out an exaggerated sigh. "Neither do you. You're only fifty, Kentucky!"

As they staggered away from the base, waiting for the Pelican extraction, Kentucky bit back groans of pain. Delaware was overprotective of anyone and everyone she was partnered with, and if she realized his injuries were as severe as they were she wouldn't let him have a moment's peace once they were back on the ship. Still, his right leg was badly wounded (Delaware had taken care of the soldier responsible for the grenade in quite a... spectacular... manner), and it felt like some of the shrapnel from a second explosion had broken through his armor and buried itself in his side. The leg was still bleeding, and they didn't have anything with which to staunch the flow.

He barely turned his head, just enough to get a good look at the yellow-armored Freelancer beside him. Delaware was twenty-five, one of the younger members of the project, but she had the skills to ensure she'd see many more years. 

At his age, Kentucky was on the higher end of the Freelancer age scale. To his knowledge, he might have actually been _the_ oldest Agent in the project, and it showed. He wasn't the fastest or strongest Agent, and New York was catching up to him in terms of safecracking and hacking ability. There were others who could fill his place on any team, or any solo assignment. Maybe Delaware's crack about retiring...

He scoffed, and Delaware turned to look at him, head tilted in curiosity. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Kentucky reassured, glancing at the sky. "I was just thinking."

"About?"

If only she could see his grin. "There is no way in hell I'm gonna be the first Freelancer to frickin' _retire_ , no matter how hard it gets."

"I dunno, Tuck," Delaware teased, also watching the horizon. "If you do it now, you might be the only Freelancer to ever live long enough to be _able_ to retire."

"Bah!" Kentucky growled in his best old man voice. "No, some young upstart like you will live longer and retire just to beat my record."

"No one would dare," Delaware retorted, and he could tell from her voice she was trying to keep a straight face. "You'd crawl out of the grave and try to beat them to death with your own bones."

They were still laughing by the time they noticed the Pelican in the sky, and even as she helped him up the ramp and into a seat, Kentucky thought to himself that if anyone were to beat his "record", he hoped it would be Agent Delaware.


End file.
